WACO—Evangelical Christians who may feel marginalized in an increasingly secular society should find kinship and common ground with Orthodox Jews, a rabbi told students and faculty at Baylor University.

“We know how to survive as a cultural minority,” said Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Yitzchok Adlerstein, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, speaks to a religion class at Baylor University during his time on campus. He spoke to a chapel assembly at Truett Seminary at the invitation of Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion. (Photo / Ken Camp)And dialogue between Christians and Jews who take their beliefs seriously can move beyond platitudes and warm, fuzzy feelings, he insisted.

“We can talk about peace, justice and tolerance. But we can do better,” he said.

Adlerstein spoke to a Truett Seminary assembly on “What Baptists and Other Christians Can Learn from Judaism” at the invitation of Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

More specifically, he focused on the commonality of “two groups who sat out” most of the ecumenical interfaith dialogues in the latter half of the 20th century—Orthodox Jews and conservative evangelical Christians.

Different worldview than dominant culture

“That has changed,” he said, insisting evangelical Christians and “Jews who take Judaism seriously” share a worldview different than the dominant one in the United States.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states cannot deny same-sex couple the right to marry—and the majority of justices seemingly dismissed as irrelevant religious arguments to the contrary—many evangelicals “woke up to realize they are a cultural minority,” Adlerstein asserted.

That ruling brought into focus the reality that conservative Protestants who had shaped American society and its values at one time no longer hold that position, he noted.

Lessons to learn

Orthodox Jews have millennia of experience as a cultural minority, and they have lessons to teach evangelical Christians, he insisted.

While evangelicals boast about their growth in comparison to Mainline Protestant denominations, their retention rate of young people is about 69 percent—compared to more than 90 percent for Orthodox Jews, he noted.

“If we were losing 31 percent of our young people, we would be taking to the streets in sackcloth and ashes,” he said in an interview.

Equally serious about faith

Evangelicals and Orthodox Jews share a common vocabulary and understanding about the power of faith, Yitzchok Adlerstein told an assembly at Truett Seminary. (Photo / Ken Camp)Evangelical Christians and Orthodox Jews differ theologically, but each group has deeply held beliefs and traditional values based on Scripture.

“We have a common vocabulary,” he said to the assembly at Truett. “We are serious about our belief. So, we are not threatened by each other. We understand the power of faith and are comfortable with it.”

In contrast to some interfaith dialogue that seeks to synthesize beliefs—“put it all in a blender and come out with a religion smoothie”—Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians have no intention of surrendering their distinctive beliefs, Adlerstein said.

But they can work together in areas of shared concern, he noted, such as advocating for the rights of persecuted religious minorities overseas—particularly Middle East Christians victimized by the self-described Islamic State.

Shape the cultural conversation

They also can help shape the conversation in a culture that devalues religious belief and stereotypes religious people as unenlightened, he asserted.

“The subliminal suggestion is that people who really understand don’t need religion. Why do we let Americans believe that?” he asked.

Out of necessity, cultural minorities learn to sharpen their thinking and hone their arguments in ways the majority culture does not, he noted.

They also develop strategies for training their children in their faith and values, rather than defaulting that responsibility to society at large, he added.

Support for Israel

Adlerstein noted one area where evangelicals and Jews found common ground in the past has diminished in recent years—support for Israel.

“That scares the living daylights out of me,” he confided in an interview. “The Palestinians have put on a full-court press, and that has led to an erosion of support for Israel.

“If we are going to make it work among young people, we will have to be able to make the justice arguments for the existence of Israel.”

Learn the Hebrew Scriptures

Because evangelical Christians take the Bible seriously, Adlerstein also invited them to learn from what Orthodox Jewish scholars could teach about the Hebrew Scriptures. Apart from familiarity with Psalms used in worship and a passing knowledge of the historical narratives, many Christians find the Hebrew Scriptures—particularly the Law—inaccessible, he insisted.

“God is not arbitrary, and there is meaning behind every law. There is beauty, inspiration and structure there—especially structure,” he said. “We have it worked out, and there is much in what we have that you could explore and value.”

ROWLETT—After one month and more than 2,000 volunteer days providing disaster relief to tornado-ravaged parts North Texas, Texas Baptist Men prepared to move from a broad-based day-to-day presence to specialized teams serving on request.

Wes Sanders, a Texas Baptist Men volunteer from LakePointe Church in Rockwall, helps clear debris in Rowlett. (Photo / Ken Camp)In Rowlett alone, the storm hit more than 1,100 homes, plus hundreds more in neighboring Garland and in less densely populated areas to the south, the day after Christmas. Since then, trained TBM disaster relief workers served 1,487 volunteer days in Dallas County, plus an additional 44 in Ellis and Collin counties. TBM also coordinated individuals and church groups who contributed 485 volunteer days.

‘Not going to just walk away’

TBM planned to close its mobile command post, which provided an on-site presence at First Baptist Church in Rowlett, but the missions organization will continue to coordinate the ongoing relief effort from the Dixon Missions Equipping Center in east Dallas.

“We could be working for months. We’re not going to just walk away,” said Terry Henderson, state disaster relief director for TBM.

A skid-steer operator helps remove debris from an alley in Rowlett. (Photo / Ken Camp)By Day 31 of the disaster relief operation in eastern Dallas County, TBM volunteers completed 152 chainsaw jobs, 186 debris removal projects and covered 30 homes with temporary roofs.

“There haven’t been as many chainsaw requests as we might have expected because whole houses are having to be demolished. So, it’s not a matter of getting a tree off a roof to repair it,” said Duane Bechtold from Hunters Glen Baptist Church, who worked multiple shifts as director of the incident command center in Rowlett.

Volunteers from Austin Baptist Association work alongside other volunteers to remove debris from alleys in Rowlett. (Photo / Ken Camp)TBM volunteers provided access for 347 showers and washed 242 loads of laundry. They also prepared 8,918 meals for volunteer workers and emergency services personnel.

Volunteer chaplains made 281 contacts, TBM workers delivered 123 Bibles and 13 gospel tracts, and they recorded four professions of faith in Christ.

TBM volunteers distributed 5,136 boxes in Dallas County and 1,833 in Ellis County to residents whose homes had been hit by tornadoes, providing a way to gather scattered belongings.

Demolition to begin soon

Heavy equipment operators devoted 237 hours to the disaster relief effort. Henderson expected that number to rise significantly in upcoming weeks when TBM workers begin home demolitions—a service the missions group first offered in the aftermath of the 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West.

“A large percentage of the people here are insured, but they’re underinsured,” he said. “They get a settlement, but they’re finding out it’s not enough to cover clearing and rebuilding.”

The average cost to demolish a home in the area and haul off the debris is about $10,000, he added.

Debris removal

Before beginning demolition, heavy equipment operators assisted with debris removal.

Joe Henard, a skid-steer operator from Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, worked with Texas Baptist Men to clear debris in Rowlett. (Photo / Ken Camp)Joe Henard, a skid-steer operator from Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, received a call Jan. 26 when another heavy equipment operator had to leave Rowlett due to a family emergency. Henard drove to Dallas County, arriving about 11 p.m., and started to work clearing debris the next morning.

“We called around and couldn’t find anybody else who was available. So, I take that as a divine appointment,” he said.

During the last weekend in January, skid-steer operators joined other TBM volunteers in clearing debris from alleys so the city’s clamshell trucks could navigate them to haul away trash.

Working closely with city officials

“We’re worked closely with the city here in Rowlett,” Henderson said. “We’ve had everyday communication with the mayor and city manager.”

After the storm hit, hundreds of volunteers from groups across the nation poured into the area, Henderson noted. Some were well-trained disaster relief workers who coordinated with local authorities, but others operated independently.

“It created a burden on the city,” he said. “For example, some came in quickly and started moving debris to the curbsides, not realizing they were piling it on top of fire hydrants.”

While TBM used individual volunteers and church groups who had not been trained in disaster relief, they worked in conjunction with trained personnel.

Jim Lawton from First Baptist Church in Waxahachie, who worked at the incident command center in Rowlett, pointed out TBM volunteers who served in Dallas County came from as far away as Amarillo to the northwest and Aransas Pass to the south.

Remember South Dallas/Ellis County

He also pointed out TBM not only served in the populous eastern Dallas County area, but also worked immediately after tornadoes hit more rural areas along the Dallas County/Ellis County line.

“The day after the storm, we had 600 people show up who wanted to volunteer” in the Ovilla area, he noted. “We sent 400 of them to Shield Elementary School in Red Oak.”

The volunteers packed up supplies and furniture they could recover from the damaged facility and moved them to an older unused school, so classes could resume at the new location after the winter break.

Disaster Recovery

In upcoming weeks and months, the Baptist General Convention of Texas will coordinate additional volunteer opportunities through Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery program, including at least two weeklong major efforts.

Soon, Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery will join the long-term recovery committees in Rowlett and Garland to develop plans, focusing specifically on assistance for uninsured or underinsured residents, said Marla Bearden, disaster recovery specialist with the BGCT.

How to help

• For more information on volunteer opportunities, call (214) 537-7358.
• To contribute to TBM disaster relief, click here or send a check designated “disaster relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227.
• To contribute to long-term recovery efforts, mail checks to Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery, 7557 Rambler Rd., Suite 1100, Dallas 75231-2310 or click here. 

ABILENE—The new T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary hopes to honor the legacy of the pioneering 20th century Baptist ethicist by introducing students to the subject and making it applicable to ministry in Texas churches.

Develop new courses

“I do hope to design a number of courses that aren’t currently on the books in the semesters to come,” Myles Werntz said.

“In the fall, I believe that I’ll be teaching introduction to biblical ethics, which is very much at the heart of T.B. Maston’s own legacy. Beyond that, I hope to possibly develop courses in the ethics of violence, which is where much of my own writing has taken me the last few years.

“But primarily, I want to develop courses that will be not only of interest, but of service to students ministering in this part of the country, courses which will address issues of immigration, end of life issues and creation care.”

Already busy

Werntz joined the Logsdon faculty Jan. 1 and already is busy teaching three classes and working on the next edition of The Window, a semi-annual publication designed to provide ministers with a practical, creative and substantive tool that will aid them in sermon preparation, research and ministry to the local church.

“I’m very happy to be a part of a seminary which is committed to being Christian witnesses in a way which is deeply committed to the Scriptures, but also deeply engaged with the issues of society, as well,” he said.

This semester, Werntz is teaching a doctor of ministry seminar in church and culture, a New Testament survey for undergraduates and introduction to Christian ethics for master of divinity students. He hopes to offer a May term course related to German pastor-theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Emphasis on discipleship

“The main thing I hope that students take away is that, before ethics is about hard questions or issues, ethics is about discipleship,” Werntz said.

“As one contemporary writer has put it, ethics is about our seeking and finding of God. This means, among other things, that ethics should be interwoven into our discipleship, such that all of our lives are about what it means to live well before God—not just when the hard cases come up,

“We’re reading a book in my intro class right now by Samuel Wells called Improvisation, which makes the case that first and foremost, ethics is about a vision for approaching a world in which Christians have been called to be faithful witnesses to Christ, while also recognizing that the world’s fate is ultimately in God’s hands. That seems about right to me.”

Before he arrived at Logsdon, Werntz was assistant professor of biblical and theological studies for the School of Ministry at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., his master of divinity degree from Baylor University’s Truett Seminary and his doctorate in religion from Baylor. He is married to Sarah Martin-Werntz, and they have a son, Eliot, age 20 months.

“I lived in Waco for 14 years before leaving Texas, so returning to Texas is very much a kind of homecoming,” Werntz said. “Being at Logsdon means not only returning to teach in a seminary context, but returning to contribute to the future of Baptist life in Texas as well.”

When asked about her work with orphans and children in poverty, the normally upbeat Rose Wasike paused as tears fill her eyes.

“My parents were very poor,” she said. “I was the third child out of 11, and growing up I saw the problem and the power of poverty. My parents used to struggle a lot to (put) food on the table.”

Wasike’s parents were determined to help her go to school, even though some of her siblings had to drop out to earn money for the family.

“My parents were struggling in order to pay my school fees,” she explained. “My father was a peasant farmer, and sometimes after selling all the products, all the money that was saved out of that product was all given to me.”

Motivated to excel

The sacrifice her parents made motivated her to excel. It also revealed poverty as a power that needed to be conquered.

She completed college with a degree in education. After graduation, she taught high school in Kenya, desiring to provide for herself and her parents.

“During my time as a teacher, one thing I realized is that again, I was in the same cycle of admitting students who were also struggling with poverty,” she said. “They had to pay school fees, but some of them—a large majority of them—did not have the ability to do that.”

Served with Buckner

When Buckner International started looking for a volunteer to begin a program in Busia, one of the rural centers of Kenya near the Ugandan border, Wasike enlisted.

She started as a mentor but later became a social worker, recruiting children into the program and giving them an opportunity to attend school.

Wasike loved her work with Buckner and found it a natural fit for her skills and passion. Because of her success starting the Buckner programs in Busia, she moved to Kitale, a slightly larger area in Kenya, to continue her work with Buckner and established a foster care/kinship care program.

Trained at Baylor

In 2012, the opportunity became available for Wasike to attend Baylor University to study social work and earn a master’s degree. Because of her dedication to children and families in poverty and her long tenure with Buckner, Wasike seemed like a perfect candidate.

“We knew Rose had the commitment to complete the program,” said Dickson Masidano, director of Buckner in Kenya. “One of the warnings is that Baylor is very rigorous; you need to be very hard-working. We knew Rose is hard-working when she commits to something. She gives it all.”

Wasike saw her acceptance into the master’s program at Baylor as God’s handiwork.

“I was very excited when I found out I was accepted,” she said. “I went down on my knees and told God: ‘Thank you that you’ve remembered me. The reason why you’ve chosen me, I don’t know, but one thing I know is you are sending me there because there’s a mission ahead of me you want me to do.’”

Wasike completed the Baylor University Global Mission Leadership program in May 2015. She spent a week in the Rio Grande Valley to shadow Buckner staff and see practical ways to implement what she learned at Baylor.

Back in Kenya

She’s now back in Kenya, implementing case management for families and assisting them to become self-sufficient.

“The biggest challenge I’m seeing in the families I work with is the problem of poverty,” Wasike said. “And that has been my greatest burden.”

HOUSTON (RNS)—A Texas grand jury investigating video-recorded allegations that Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal organs instead indicted two of the people who made the controversial undercover videos.

The grand jury in Harris County indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record. Daleiden also was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of “prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs,” Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said.

The grand jury declined to indict anyone from Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast—the initial target of the investigation.

“We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,” Anderson said. “As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.”

Secretly recorded discussions

Daleiden and Merritt created a fake human-tissue company and secretly recorded Planned Parenthood workers discussing the disposal of organs. Planned Parenthood officials, who have sued the two and several others involved in making the videos, say the recordings were deceptively edited and falsely portrayed the highly regulated process by which organs from aborted fetuses can be donated for medical research.

“These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda. As the dust settles and the truth comes out, it’s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we’re glad they’re being held accountable,” said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Racketeering suit filed

In other action, Planned Parenthood filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Daleiden and Merritt, along with the Center for Medical Progress and BioMax, and several others identified as helping create the videos. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco claims the defendants “engaged in a complex criminal enterprise to defraud Planned Parenthood and prevent the health care organization from providing preventive and reproductive health services to millions of women and men.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last summer called for the grand jury investigation, terming the allegations contained in the videos “repulsive and unconscionable.” Reacting to the grand jury announcement, Abbott wrote on Twitter: “Despite today’s decision in Harris Co. about Planned Parenthood, Texas will continue to protect life & investigate@PPact practices.”

Videos defended

 In a guest editorial for USA TODAY published online, Daleiden defended the videos.

“Six months after these revelations broke, Planned Parenthood still cannot deny that the shocking and indicting words on the videos were spoken by its own senior level leadership,” he wrote.

“Planned Parenthood cannot rebut the incriminating statements of its own leadership on these tapes, and so it has resorted to an awkward shuffle of blind denials and stagy distractions in their wake. The truth will continue to come out through the congressional probe, through the ongoing state investigations and through the frivolous lawsuit Planned Parenthood now brings in retaliation for its exposure.”

Rise in violence against clinics asserted

Planned Parenthood officials and the organization’s defenders assert the videos have prompted a dramatic rise in violence against abortion clinics, including a Nov. 27 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that left three dead. The suspect in that case, Robert Lewis Dear, claimed he was a “warrior for the babies.” He’s currently awaiting a mental-health competency exam.

Eleven states launched similar investigations into Planned Parenthood following the videos’ release; all cleared the organization of wrongdoing.

Officials with the Center For Medical Progress did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans in the House of Representatives pushed through a resolution last fall to create a special subcommittee—called the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives—to investigate Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. The panel has not yet met or announced a schedule of hearings, but it has begun hiring staff.

The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, said the Texas ruling proves the congressional investigation is a waste of time and should be shuttered.

Trevor Hughes writes for USA Today. Reporter Paul Singer contributed.

Texas Baptist university students paid tribute to the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. by spending the national holiday that honors him in community service.

In Marshall, about 100 volunteers from East Texas Baptist University—students, joined by faculty and staff—served in 12 locations.

East Texas Baptist University Lady Tiger basketball players (left to right) Lauren Lee, Kaitlyn Packett, Morgan Garrett and Samantha Busby clean and oil saddles at the DaySpring Ranch Therapeutic Equestrian Center on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. (Photo / Mike Midkiff) While several teams picked up trash along roadsides, one large group worked at a Habitat for Humanity home construction site and another group volunteered at DaySpring Ranch, a therapeutic equestrian center.

Gavin McAdam, president of the ETBU Student Government Association, cited two motivations for serving at the Habitat for Humanity site.

“My first reason was to give back to the community as a personal endeavor and, second, to encourage other student organizations on campus to be involved, McAdam said.

“It is crucial to me that we take every opportunity Christ gives us to serve so that we can live out our missional obligations to our fellow brothers and sisters who may need our help. In a small act of giving of oneself, a bigger impact that we may never understand is made.”

Some members of the Lady Tiger basketball team cleared horse stalls and oiled saddles at DaySpring Ranch, while their teammates cleared fallen limbs from wooded trails used during therapy sessions.

“I had been looking for something the team could do, and I think it is really important not only for the team but all students in general to give back to the community whenever they can,” Lady Tiger Head Coach Edsel Hamilton said. “One aspect of the ministry of DaySpring is that they do a lot equine therapy with veterans who come back from wars. It is very good for us to do anything that benefits veterans who serve our country.”

ETBU encourages students, faculty and staff to volunteer as part of the school’s commitment to fostering servant leadership, ETBU Great Commission Center Director Lisa Seeley said.

“ETBU is a light on the hill in Marshall. That light is the life of Christ lived out by our students, faculty and staff in our community through spreading the gospel in word and deed,” Seeley said.

“My hope is that those who served became more aware of the needs of our community and also felt empowered to make a difference. Sometimes, the needs around us seem too overwhelming. My prayer is that by serving, the students, faculty and staff who participated saw that they can impact our community for Christ.”

Dallas Baptist University students Bria Roberts of Tyler (left) and Jazmine Collins of Abilene serve at Beautiful Feet Ministries in Fort Worth. (Photo / Paulo Belli)Student groups from Dallas Baptist worked at two organizations in neighboring Tarrant County—Beautiful Feet Ministries in Fort Worth and Mission Arlington.

“We were blessed to be able to serve alongside these organizations on a regular basis,” said Desi Henk, director of the university’s William B. Dean Service-Learning Program. 

“At DBU, we stress to our students the concept of servant leadership, and the life and ministry of Martin Luther King Jr. is a wonderful example for our students to follow.”

Jonathan Kasper, a Dallas Baptist University student from Houston, serves at Beautiful Feet Ministries in Fort Worth. (Photo / Paulo Belli)Jonathan Kaspar, a DBU student from Houston, noted he served alongside students “who had such a joyful attitude and went above and beyond what was asked of them.”

His co-workers exemplified the biblical admonition in Philippians 2:3 to “value others above yourselves,” he noted.

“They chose to be the hands and feet of Christ and look after the needs of others, regardless of the circumstances. The last day before school starts was spent well serving those less fortunate and being a light for them in this world of darkness,” Kaspar said.

DBU students not only had the opportunity to serve the communities around them, but also were able to contemplate King’s life and legacy as they served.

“Serving today was meaningful both because of the impact we were able to make on our community, and because of the opportunity we had to honor the great legacy of service to others that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. established during his lifetime,” said Layne Watson, DBU student from San Antonio.

Based on reporting by Mike Midkiff at ETBU and Courtney Hackett at DBU.

Dallas Baptist University dedicated a 16,000-square-foot center for student learning and community engagement, named in memory of Dallas pediatrician William B. Dean. In the 1960s, when Dallas Baptist Association and the Baptist General Convention of Texas began work to move Decatur Baptist College to Dallas, Dean served on the development committee that raised more than $3 million in private donations to establish the DBU campus in South Dallas overlooking Mountain Creek Lake. The William B. Dean Learning Center will house the DBU online education department, the College of Professional Studies, the William B. Dean Center for Service Learning, student life offices and classrooms.

Michael Rodgers Howard Payne University named Michael Rodgers chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration. Rodgers will oversee business operations, including finance, human resources, and facilities and planning. Since 2009, he has been vice president of business and chief financial officer at Criswell College in Dallas. He has held several administrative roles at First Baptist Academy in Dallas and All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler and was an adjunct faculty member at Dallas Baptist University and Criswell College. Rodgers, a certified public accountant, earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, a master’s degree in Christian education from Dallas Theological Seminary and a master of humanities degree from the University of Dallas.

Dallas Baptist University will host Patriot Previews for prospective students and their parents Jan. 30 and Feb. 15. Prospective students will have the opportunity to tour the campus, visit with faculty and administrators, and receive information about admissions, financial aid, campus activities and other aspects of life at DBU. Guests also will hear from current students about their experiences. The event is free for a prospective student and up to two guests. For more information, contact the office of undergraduate admissions at (214) 333-5360 or admiss@dbu.edu.

Jennifer Maggio, founder of The Life of a Single Mom Ministries, is keynote speaker at the ninth annual Legacy of Love Single Moms Conference, Feb. 19-20 at First Baptist Church in Canton. The conference begins at 6 p.m. Friday and ends at 2 p.m. Saturday. Maggio also will conduct a workshop for ministry leaders from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 20, on how to minister to single parents. Cost for the full conference is $30, which includes the evening meal on Friday and lunch on Saturday. Cost for the Saturday ministry leader workshop alone is $10, and it includes lunch. To register or receive more information, click here, email ca@firstcanton.com or call (903) 567-4157.

Anniversary

Bill Gillum, 5 years as minister of music at First Baptist Church in San Angelo.

Retiring

Catherine CrawfordCatherine Crawford as vice president for university advancement at East Texas Baptist University. She became director of the annual fund at ETBU in 1998, serving about a year and a half. She returned to the university in 2004 as development associate and was promoted to vice president in 2007.

More than four decades after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, few issues create division like debate over abortion. But pro-life and pro-choice advocates in Texas agree on at least one point: The number of abortions in the state has declined in recent years.

The Guttmacher Institute—an abortion rights organization—reports the number of legal abortions in Texas peaked in 1981 at 110,110. By 2011, the number had dropped to 73,200, after 30 years of gradual decline.

And anecdotal evidence suggests the number may have dropped more dramatically since the Texas Legislature passed a bill requiring abortion clinics to meet the standards of surgical centers and requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

Court to review Texas restrictions

The U.S. Supreme Court will review a case challenging that law—Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole—in March and likely will rule in early summer.

Last October, the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at the University of Texas reported the number of facilities in the state providing abortions dropped from 41 to 18 since April 2013. Researchers  also pointed to a 13 percent decline in the number of abortions in the initial six months after the first portions of the law went into effect.

Calls to crisis pregnancy centers

Some women who likely would have contacted abortion providers in the past are calling crisis pregnancy center that promote abortion alternatives. For example, Thrive Women’s Clinic, an evangelical Christian crisis pregnancy center, reported the number of phone calls it received at its three Dallas locations from women seeking abortions nearly doubled in 2015. Thrive offers pregnancy tests, sonograms and counseling, but the clinic does not provide abortion services.

Initial year-end reports indicated Thrive Women’s Clinic received 2,416 calls in 2015 from women seeking abortions—a 47 percent increase. Through those calls, 267 women who initially wanted abortions and visited Thrive clinics chose to carry their babies full-term, including two mothers of twins. That’s compared to 224 in 2014.

‘Reaching more abortion-minded women’

“With fewer places in Texas performing abortions now, women are frantic to find a place to get one,” said Mary Jayne Fogerty, executive director of Thrive. “We are reaching more abortion-minded women than ever before.”

Alysha Tyler, seen with her daughter, Alika, called a Dallas women’s clinic seeking an abortion. After viewing a sonogram, she chose against terminating her pregnancy. (Photo / Courtesy of Thrive Women’s Clinic) Thrive officials cite the example of women like Alysha Tyler, 25, who searched “Dallas abortion” on her smartphone and found the clinic’s contact information. When she visited the clinic for a free pregnancy test and sonogram, she discovered she was 10 weeks along in her pregnancy. After viewing the sonogram, she decided against terminating the pregnancy. She later gave birth to her daughter, Akila.

Fogerty suspects other crisis pregnancy centers may have experienced similar increases in the number of calls received and women who chose alternatives to abortion.

“It has been the trend for quite some time, but it was more dramatic” in 2015, she said.

Unintended consequences?

However, the Texas Policy Evaluation Project points to another possible consequence of fewer abortion clinics in Texas.

“As wait times increase across Texas, the proportion of abortions performed in the second trimester would increase,” researchers reported. “If wait times increased to 20 days, which we are currently seeing in Dallas and Fort Worth, we estimate the number of abortions performed in the second trimester would nearly double.”

Other opponents of the Texas regulations insist by forcing women’s clinics that offer abortions out of business, women also are denied access to cancer screenings and other vital services.

Health and safety of women improved

Supporters of the Texas law insist the regulations improve the health and safety of women.

“Texas’ admitting-privileges and ambulatory-surgical-center requirements raise the standard of care for all abortion patients,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Solicitor General Scott Keller and others wrote in a brief filed with the Supreme Court.

Gus Reyes, director of Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission, likewise expressed assurance the restrictions that led to more than half the abortion clinics in the state closing should not negatively affect women’s access to health care.

“Texas Baptists worked for these changes to state law in 2013, and we believe they are important legal restrictions for abortion providers. We are particularly thankful Texas has experienced a decline in abortions, especially since the newest restrictions went into effect,” Reyes said.

“One of our great desires is that low-income and other vulnerable women continue to have access to quality health care, and we believe this can be accomplished within the current restrictions on abortions.”

CORSICANA—More than 250 people made public professions of faith in Christ and about 200 were baptized during the Main Event Crusade at the Cowboy Church of Corsicana.

“A crusade means bringing in the lost and helping them find Jesus, and that’s what we hoped to do,” Pastor Derek Rogers said about the four-day event.

The closing night of the crusade, church members willingly gave up their seats to accommodate visitors. About 1,200 people packed the worship center, filling every seat.

Evangelist Ronnie Hill preached at the Main Event Crusade at the Cowboy Church of Corsicana. (Photo / Leah Reynolds)Evangelist Ronnie Hill preached about the importance of baptism, comparing it to a symbol of commitment in a marriage.

“Baptism doesn’t save you, but it’s a symbol of commitment,” he said. “Baptism is the wedding ring of the Christian life.”

That evening, more than 100 men, women and children lined up to be immersed in a horse trough inside the church—a number roughly equal to the total baptized at the three previous worship services.

“I just stand back in awe at God’s anointing and God’s moving,” Rogers said about having the opportunity to baptize the new believers. “The spiritual side of me is on Cloud Nine, while the physical side of me is worn out and exhausted. But it’s well worth it.”

In addition to seeing lives changed for eternity, Rogers also witnessed church members experience growth.

“I’ve watched our church members grow to a new level of their faith in Christ, and I’ve watched them grow in maturity,” he said. “I’ve seen a maturity level in them that’s out the roof. Their faith now is strong in knowing God can do awesome things in our church.”

Cowboy Church of Corsicana held its first worship service in 2011 with 39 members. Five years later, it has grown to about 500 worshippers every Sunday, accepting the church’s invitation to “come as you are and leave changed.”

AUSTIN—Paid daily fantasy sports sites run contrary to Texas law, Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

In a Jan. 19 opinion, Paxton ruled the paid sites like DraftKings and FanDuel—in contrast to traditional sports fantasy leagues—violate Texas gambling prohibitions.

Daily fantasy sports sites allow players to buy into a game in which they create a fantasy team using real professional athletes. The athletes’ statistics in various categories are tracked, and fantasy league players win or lose money based on how their teams perform—with the sponsoring site taking a percentage.

‘It is prohibited gambling’

“Paid daily fantasy sports operators claim they can legally operate as an unregulated house, but none of their arguments square with existing Texas law,” Paxton said. “Simply put, it is prohibited gambling in Texas if you bet on the performance of a participant in a sporting event and the house takes a cut.”

Paxton also took issue with the site operators’ argument that the criminal code exempts contestants in a sporting event whose “skill, speed, strength or endurance” determine the outcome. That applies only to “actual contestants”—not participants who select members of their fantasy teams based on those criteria, he noted.

Paxton also dismissed the argument that paid daily fantasy sports sites should be legal because skill in selection of team members—not pure chance—determines winners.

“Unlike some other states, Texas law only requires ‘partial chance’ for something to be gambling; it does not require that chance predominate,” a statement from Paxton’s office said.

‘100 percent correct’

Anti-gambling advocates applauded the attorney general’s opinion.

“The facts support no other conclusion than the decision reached by the Texas attorney general. Daily fantasy sports constitutes illegal gambling,” said Rodger Weems, chairman of Stop Predatory Gambling-Texas.

The decision is in line with similar rulings in New York and Nevada, he added.

Rob Kohler, consultant with Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission, praised the attorney general’s opinion as “100 percent correct,” saying the operators of the paid daily fantasy sports sites were trying to circumvent the legislative process.

“They tried to do it backwards, getting into the state first and then asking permission,” he said. “It shouldn’t work, and it didn’t.”

Texas Lottery Commission

Paxton issued his opinion four days after the Dallas Morning News reported Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Gary Grief worked for months aggressively seeking a contract with DraftKings.

Through Texas public records laws, the newspaper obtained more than 400 pages of emails that contradicted the agency’s claim it only was considering scratch-off and lottery drawings—not expanding to include daily fantasy sports.

“I hope the actions of the Lottery Commission don’t go without review by their bosses,” Kohler commented.

WACO—After less than eight months on the job, Edwin Trevathan resigned as Baylor University’s provost and executive vice president.

Edwin Trevathan“After prayerful consideration and consultation with my family, we have decided that the position of executive vice president and provost at Baylor University is not a good fit for us,” Trevathan said, adding he will remain as professor of neuroscience at Baylor.

“As I make this decision, which is in the best interest of my family and me, I maintain the highest regard and deepest respect for Baylor University, its faculty and staff,” he said.

Trevathan assumed the post as provost and executive vice president last June. He served previously as professor of epidemiology and dean of the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University in Missouri.

“I know that Ed and his family have come to this judgment after a great deal of thought and prayer, and so I respectfully accept their decision,” Baylor President Ken Starr said.

“We have benefited from so many of Ed’s talents, including his wonderful creativity and analytical skills, as well as his vast experience in sponsored research, medicine and science. We are grateful for his dedicated service to Baylor University and the manner in which he has helped position us for future success.”

Todd StillStarr named Todd Still, dean of Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary, interim provost. Still will serve in both roles, as seminary dean and university interim provost.

It marks the second time Starr has tapped a Truett Seminary dean as interim provost. When Elizabeth Davis resigned as Baylor’s provost in 2014 to become president of Furman University, Starr named David Garland for the interim position.

Not long after Trevathan arrived at Baylor, he convened an implementation group to determine roles and responsibilities for a proposed chief diversity officer at the university.

The initiative, which Starr announced in the fall, met with some resistance. Elizabeth Corey, associate professor of political science in Baylor’s Honors College, published an article asserting diversity in a Christian university must be balanced against the institution’s tradition, heritage and constituency.

“In practice, diversity is understood—by both its supporters and detractors—as a code word, a means of smuggling certain unspoken values into institutions,” Corey wrote.

While Christian institutions should embrace some aspects of diversity, they should approach it cautiously, she advised.

“Christian schools should think long and hard about exactly what kind of diversity they wish to promote before they sign their souls over to the secular rule of diversity officers,” Corey wrote. “If they don’t, they might live to regret it.”

ROWLETT—Texas Baptist Men disaster relief volunteers completed damage assessment, debris removal and chainsaw work in Ellis and Collin counties, but they continued ministry in Rowlett and Garland, helping residents affected by tornadoes that hit the day after Christmas.

By Jan. 13, trained TBM volunteers had logged 1,026 days of service. Working from the incident command center they established at First Baptist Church in Rowlett, TBM personnel also coordinated the work of other volunteers who gave 223 days to the ongoing work in eastern Dallas County.

Volunteers from South Garland Baptist Church in Garland served with Texas Baptist Men in Rowlett. (Facebook Photo)One volunteer group—31 members of South Garland Baptist Church in Garland—spent a chilly Saturday morning helping a Japanese widow in Rowlett with no insurance and limited English skills. The tornado damaged about half of the roof on her house, leaving contents in the affected rooms rain-soaked and wind-scattered.

Communicating primarily through an interpreter TBM supplied, the volunteers from South Garland moved her furniture into a temporary storage unit provided by a senior adult organization in Rowlett.

After discarding damaged goods, they boxed smaller household items and personal possessions, moving them into two rooms unaffected by the storm so restoration work could begin in the water-damaged part of her house.

TBM chainsaw crews completed 133 jobs, removing broken limbs and fallen trees, and crews with tarps completed nearly two-dozen temporary roofing jobs for homeowners.

Heavy-equipment operators donated nearly 100 hours, assisting with demolition and large-debris removal.

To contribute to TBM disaster relief, click here or send a check designated “disaster relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227.

To contribute to long-term recovery efforts, mail checks to Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery, 7557 Rambler Rd., Suite 1100, Dallas 75231-2310 or click here.